Salmonella cases from papayas double in NJ, report says

U.S. health officials say more people have contracted salmonella by eating papayas from a farm in southern Mexico.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 109 people in 16 states have caught the illness from eating papayas.

Papaya traced to the Carica de Campeche farm in Campeche, Mexico, appears to be the likely source, the FDA said Monday. The farm is located on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The company did not immediately respond to an email and phones went unanswered on Tuesday. A storm warning was posted for the area as Tropical Storm Franklin was making its way across the Yucatan Peninsula.

Papayas from the Carica de Campeche farm tested positive for five different strains of salmonella bacteria, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and fever. Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are the most likely to have severe infections.

Nearly half of the cases have been in New York and New Jersey, which had 36 and 26, respectively. In New Jersey the original cases were reported in Passaic, Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Union, Middlesex, and Morris Counties, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

Nicole Kirgan, a spokesperson for the department said at the time that the patients ranged in age from 1 to 92, and that everyone had recovered.

In addition to New York and New Jersey, Virginia has had 11 cases, Pennsylvania has had seven and Maryland has had six. Connecticut and Minnesota have each reported four cases, and Massachusetts has had three.

Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oklahoma have each reported two cases, while Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and Wisconsin have had one each.

One death, in New York City, has been blamed on the outbreak.

Those sickened can experience diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and fever. The illness can be more severe when contracted by young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

The FDA said it is working with Mexican food safety authorities to conduct inspections and other follow up activities.

The Campeche farm has been added to an import alert which allows FDA field personnel to stop fresh produce from entering the U.S. from the farm until it's proven to have resolved issues that caused the bacterial contamination. It was not immediately clear how the papaya was contaminated, an FDA spokesman said.

"The investigation is continuing and we'll post more information when it's available," said Peter Cassell.

The CDC said laboratory evidence using genetic testing has connected some of the illnesses to papaya from the farm.

So far the Caribena, Cavi and Valery brands of maradol papayas have been recalled but the CDC now recommends that consumers not eat, restaurants not serve, and retailers not sell maradol papayas from Mexico.
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Previous reporting by Dan Alexander included in this report

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